Systems and methods for automated content generation

ABSTRACT

A content generation service is described that generates content for electronic documents in different languages based upon templates. The templates may include paragraph templates composed of sentence types including sentence templates. The sentence templates may further include variables having corresponding attributes. Each of the paragraph templates, sentence templates, and attributes may be hierarchically organized. The content generation service may obtain data describing an item of interest, such as a travel item. The obtained data may further specify a document language, section and paragraph for which content is to be generated. Content is generated for variables in hierarchical order, with higher ranked paragraphs considered first. Within the highest ranked paragraph, a sentence type is selected and the variables within the highest ranked sentence template of the sentence type are considered. Sentence templates which contain attributes matched by the data obtained for the item of interest are added to the generated document.

BACKGROUND

Computing devices and computing networks are frequently employed byusers to obtain information and to make purchases. For example, a usermay search for, review, and share information regarding items ofinterest from a network-based information service using his or herpersonal computing device. In another example, a user may purchase anitem of interest from a network-based retailer using his or her personalcomputing device. Furthermore, network-based services may enable a userto perform these task in the comfort of their home or office and at hisor her own pace and convenience.

To accommodate users from a variety of countries, network-based serviceproviders often provide their respective network-based services in avariety of languages. However, translating the content within anetwork-based service into a variety of languages may be time consumingand costly. Furthermore, as the content is updated, additionaltranslations may be required, incurring further costs. Therefore, evenwhen content is available in certain languages, it may be difficult fornetwork-based services to maintain this content in other desiredlanguages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting an illustrative operatingenvironment in which a content generation service prepares contentregarding identified items of interest based upon a hierarchicallyorganized template;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of certain illustrative components implementedby the content generation service shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A-3C are schematic illustrations of templates obtained by thecontent generation service for preparation of content regardingidentified items of interest;

FIG. 3D is an illustration of content generated for the templates ofFIGS. 3A-3C;

FIG. 4A is a block diagram of the operating environment of FIG. 1illustrating the content generation service automatically initiating aprocess to generate content regarding an identified item of interest;

FIG. 4B is a block diagram of the operating environment of FIG. 1illustrating the content generation service receiving a request togenerate content regarding an identified item of interest;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the operating environment of FIG. 1 inwhich the content generation service is in communication with anetwork-based service for providing generated content in response to arequest;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the operating environment of FIG. 5illustrating submission of a request for content to the contentgeneration service from a computing device; and

FIGS. 7A and 7B are a flow diagram of an illustrative routineimplemented by the content generation service for preparation of contentregarding an identified item of interest.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to generating contentregarding an item of interest and storing the generated content forlater recall and use, for example, by a network-based service. To thisend, a content generation service is provided that generates content forelectronic documents in different languages based upon templates. Theitem of interest may be anything a person can perceive or imagine andmay include, but is not limited to, objects, places, and events. Incertain embodiments, the item of interest may include travel items, suchas flights, lodging, ground transportation, and activities.

As described in greater detail below, the content generation service mayemploy templates to automatically generate content for an item ofinterest. The templates may be organized on the level of paragraphs,sentence types, sentences, and variables. Each paragraph of a documentmay be generated by consideration of one or more paragraph templates.Each of the paragraph templates may include one or more sentence typesthat include one or more sentence templates. The sentence templates mayfurther include one or more variables that describe the item ofinterest. Variables may additionally include one or more attributes.Each of the paragraph templates, sentence templates, and attributes maybe, respectively, hierarchically ranked.

Selected sentence types may be further designated as required. Arequired sentence type is considered mandatory for inclusion in itsrespective paragraph template. If content is not generated for arequired sentence type, the paragraph template in which the requiredsentence type is found will be omitted from the generated content,irrespective of any other content generated for the paragraph template.

In certain embodiments, only one of the possible paragraph templates andsentence templates may be employed in their respective paragraph andsentence type for content generation. Which of the paragraph andsentence templates is employed to generate content regarding an item ofinterest is determined in an evaluation process that identifiesvariables that are satisfied by the item of interest.

The evaluation process may begin by identifying the item of interest andby further obtaining data regarding the item. In one embodiment, theobtained data may include information describing the item of interestand the relationship between the information and one or more paragraphtemplates. In this manner, paragraph templates appropriate to the itemof interest may be identified.

In one aspect, the obtained data may include metadata which specifieshow the obtained data relates to paragraph templates. For example, themetadata may specify information such as the language of the paragraphtemplates, the section of the generated content to which the paragraphtemplates pertain, and the paragraph of the generated content to whichparagraph templates pertain. By obtaining this metadata information, thecontent generation service may identify and retrieve one or moreparagraph templates appropriate to the paragraph for which contentgeneration is to be performed.

In another aspect, the obtained data may include structured informationdescribing the item of interest. The structured information may include,but is not limited to, a table or database which includes entriescorresponding to one or more of the attributes of the variables withinthe sentence templates. For example, assuming the item of interest is alodging property, a sentence template for the lodging property mayinclude a variable called “water.” In certain embodiments, the variableof the sentence template may further specify that the attributeassociated with the variable “water” is “pool.”

Whether the variable of a sentence template is satisfied by the propertyof interest is determined by comparing the attribute variable andattributes within the structured data. If a variable attribute is foundto match an attribute within the structured data, the variable issatisfied by the item of interest. For example, using the example above,if the structured data for a lodging property indicates that theproperty possesses the attribute “pool,” the water variable of thesentence template is satisfied.

Upon identifying a match, the variable within the sentence template maybe replaced by content for the item of interest. In certain embodiments,the content may be the name of the attribute itself. In otherembodiments, the content may be an attribute value associated with theattribute. For example, an attribute “pool” may have an attribute value“Olympic-sized pool.”

In circumstances where a variable appears more than once within asentence template, the sentence template may be satisfied only if asmany attributes of the variable are satisfied as there are instances ofthe variable within the sentence template. Attributes of the variableare evaluated in ranked order with respect to the structured informationof the item of interest. For example, assuming a variable is repeatedtwice within a sentence template and the variable has three associatedattributes, the variable may be satisfied if two of the three attributesare matched with the attributes of the structured information.

Should the item of interest fail to satisfy at least one variable of thesentence template under consideration, the sentence template is notsatisfied. For example, continuing the example above, if the item ofinterest is a lodging property and the sentence template includes avariable “water” having an attribute “pool,” a lodging property withoutan attribute of “pool” within its structured information would notsatisfy the sentence template. Therefore, the sentence template underconsideration would not be included in the generated content, regardlessof other content generated for the sentence template underconsideration.

Variables may further be designated as conditional variables. Aconditional variable is a variable which requires that certainconditions are met before the variable is satisfied. For example, assumethat a sentence template for a lodging property includes a conditionalvariable of “water” having attributes “pool,” “lake,” and “ocean.” Theconditions placed upon the water variable may be that, in order for thewater variable to be satisfied, the structured information for thelodging property must possess at least one of “pool,” “lake,” and“ocean” attributes. If at least one of these conditions is satisfied,content indicating that the lodging property is near a body of water maybe added to the generated document. Note that the conditional variableoperates differently from other variables in that the conditionalvariable is not replaced by content such as an attribute or an attributevalue when the conditional variable is satisfied. Rather, satisfying theconditional variable may result in generation of different contentpertaining to the conditional variable.

After obtaining the data and template for the item of interest, thecontent generation service may employ the template and obtained data togenerate content. The content generation service begins generatingcontent by considering the highest ranked paragraph template within theparagraph under consideration. Within this highest ranked paragraphtemplate, any required sentence types are considered. For example, ifthe item of interest is a lodging property, a sentence type includingsentence templates regarding the contact information (e.g., name,address, telephone number, etc) of the property may be designated asrequired while a sentence template including sentence templatesregarding on-site dining options may be designated as not required. Inthe event that more than one required sentence type is present within aparagraph template, the required sentence types may be evaluated in anyorder. If no required sentence types are present within a paragraphtemplate, the sentence types may be evaluated in any order. Within theselected sentence type, the sentence templates may be considered inranked order.

Upon selecting the sentence type and highest ranked sentence templatefor content generation consideration, the variables within the highestranked sentence template may be evaluated in any order, as discussedabove. In the event that a variable possesses more than one attribute,the highest ranked attribute is considered first. If no match is foundto the highest ranked attribute, the next highest ranked attribute maybe checked for a match with the structured information for the item ofinterest. This process may continue until a match is identified or untilall attributes of the variable have been reviewed. If the structureddata of the item of interest is not found to match any attribute of thevariable, the variable is not satisfied. This evaluation process may beperformed for each variable within the sentence template underconsideration until all variables have been evaluated.

The content generation system may then consider any remaining sentencetemplates within the sentence type, in ranked order, until a sentencetemplate is found which satisfies the item of interest. If a satisfyingsentence template is identified, the variables of the satisfyingsentence template may be replaced with their respective attributes orattribute values and the satisfied sentence template is provided asgenerated content. The content generation system may then continuecontent generation with another sentence type.

If, no satisfying sentence template is identified for a sentence type,though, the sentence type is determined to fail. In general, the contentgeneration system may then move to the next sentence type within theparagraph template under consideration for further content generation.However, if the sentence type under consideration is a required sentencetype, the entire paragraph in which the sentence type resides isdetermined to fail and is omitted from the generated content.

Alternatively, if there are no additional sentence types to beconsidered for content generation within the paragraph template, thecontent generation system may continue the content generation processwith other paragraphs of the section. In further alternatives, if noparagraphs remain for content generation, the content generation processmay continue with other sections of the document or stop contentgeneration.

With reference to FIG. 1, an illustrative operating environment 100 isshown, including a content generation service 102 for generating contentregarding an item of interest using one or more templates 104. The itemof interest may be an object (such as an article of manufacture, plant,animal or person), a place (such as a building, park, business, landmarkor address), or an event (such as a game, concert or movie). In certainembodiments, the object of interest may be a travel item. Examples oftravel items may include any transportation goods or services, such asflights 106A, lodging 106B, land or sea-based transportation 106C (e.g.,automobiles, buses, trains, cruises and the like), or other goods orservices related to activities 106D, such as concerts, sporting events,amusement parks and the like. In certain embodiments discussed below,reference may be made to the item of interest as a lodging property. Oneof skill in the art may understand that such references are intended forillustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of thedisclosed embodiments.

As discussed in greater detail below with respect to FIGS. 3A-3C, thetemplates 104 may include electronic documents organized into sectionswhich include paragraphs. Content is generated for paragraphs fromparagraph templates. The paragraph templates are subdivided intosentence types which include sentence templates. The sentence templatesmay also include variables having attributes. The content generationservice 102 generates content information in the language of thetemplates relevant to the item of interest. The paragraph templates,sentence templates and attributes may be hierarchically organized inorder to provide a preferred order in which content is to be generated.

In certain embodiments, the templates 104 may be obtained from a datastore 110 in communication with the content generation service 102 via anetwork 112. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the network112 may be any wired network, wireless network or combination thereof.In addition, the network 112 may be a personal area network, local areanetwork, wide area network, cable network, satellite network, cellulartelephone network or combination thereof. Protocols and components forcommunicating via the Internet or any of the other aforementioned typesof communication networks are well known to those skilled in the art ofcomputer communications and thus need not be described in more detailherein.

The content generation service 102 may be embodied in a plurality ofcomputing components, each executing an instance of the contentgeneration service 102. A server or other computing componentimplementing the content generation service 102 may include a networkinterface, memory, processing unit, and computer-readable medium drive,all of which may communicate with each other by way of a communicationbus. The network interface may provide connectivity over the network 112and/or other networks or computer systems. The processing unit maycommunicate to and from a memory containing program instructions thatthe processing unit executes in order to operate the content generationservice 102. The memory generally includes RAM, ROM, and/or othernon-transitory, persistent and auxiliary memory.

It will be recognized that many of the components described herein areoptional and that embodiments of the operating environment 100 may ormay not combine components. Additionally, the components need not bedistinct or discrete. Components may be reorganized in the operatingenvironment 100. The operating environment 100 may be represented in asingle physical server containing all of the subsystems described belowor, alternatively, may be split into multiple physical servers. Forexample, in certain embodiments, the content generation service 102 maybe implemented as a network-based service offering a variety of travelservices and search capabilities (e.g., a travel website). Inalternative embodiments, the content generation service 102, may includea stand-alone service.

With reference to FIG. 2, illustrative components of the contentgeneration service 102 for use in generating content for an item ofinterest such as that described above will now be addressed. In oneembodiment, the content generation service 102 may include a schedulingcomponent 202 for identifying when content generation is to beperformed. In certain embodiments, the scheduling component 202 maylocally or remotely retrieve a timetable of dates and/or times at whichcontent generation is to be performed by the content generation service102. The scheduling component 202 may further identify an item ofinterest for which content generation is to be performed from theretrieved timetable.

In one embodiment, the identified item of interest may include a lodgingproperty. The identified lodging property may be submitted to a point ofinterest component 204 by the scheduling component 202. In response toreceipt of the identified lodging property, the point of interestcomponent 204 may retrieve point of interest information and thelocation of the identified property (e.g., latitude and longitude) froma storage device local to the content generation service 102 or anetwork-accessible storage device, such as data store 110. The point ofinterest information may include information that may be of interest toa visitor to the identified property. Examples may include, but are notlimited to, public and private attractions such as museums, landmarks,historical sites, zoos, amusement parks, parks, reoccurring andnon-reoccurring events, shopping, transportation centers (e.g.,airports, rental car locations, and bus, train, and light railterminals), and the like.

The point of interest component 204 may then employ the point ofinterest information and location information to determine the closestpoints of interest to the identified lodging property. In oneembodiment, the closest points of interest may be determined based upongeographic distance between respective points of interest and theidentified lodging property. Those points of interest less than aselected distance from the identified lodging property may be determinedto be closest points of interest. In another embodiment, the closestpoints of interest may be determined based upon time required to travelbetween respective points of interest and the identified lodgingproperty. Those points of interest requiring less than a selected traveltime from the identified property may be determined to be closest pointsof interest. One of skill in the art may appreciate that other methodsof determining closest points of interest based upon the points ofinterest and the identified lodging property may be employed withoutlimit. These closest points of interest may be saved to the data store110, such as within the structured information, by the point of interestcomponent 204 for later use by the content generation service 102 forcontent generation.

The content generation service 102 may further include a templatecomponent 206 for performing content generation. For example, continuingthe example above, the template component 206 may also receive theidentified lodging property from the scheduling component 202. Uponreceipt of the identified lodging property, the template component 206may obtain data corresponding to the identified property. The obtaineddata may include structured information regarding the identified lodgingproperty. The obtained data may further include metadata that includesinformation specifying the language of the template, the section of thegenerated content to which the template is to pertain, and the paragraphof the template to which the obtained data is to be correlated. Asdiscussed in greater detail below, the template component 206 mayfurther employ the language, section, and paragraph information of themetadata to identify paragraph templates appropriate to the identifiedlodging property for retrieval.

The templates 104 and obtained data may each be independently storedlocally by the content generation service 102 or may be retrievedremotely from a network accessible storage device, such as the datastore 110. Non-limiting examples of paragraph templates and obtaineddata, including structured information and metadata corresponding to theidentified property are illustrated in FIGS. 3A-3C and Tables 1-3 below.

In the example of FIG. 3A, paragraph templates, such as paragraphtemplates 302A, 302B, are illustrated for a location section of adocument regarding a lodging property. The paragraph templates 302A,302B, may also include sentence types, such as sentence types 310A-310D.In general, paragraph templates may possess as few as one to as manysentence types as desired. The sentence types 310A-310D may furtherinclude sentence templates, such as sentence templates 304A-304E. Ingeneral, sentence types may include from as few as one sentence templateto as many sentence templates as are desired. For example, the paragraphtemplate 302A includes three sentence types, 310A-310C, [WHERE], [NEARATTRACTION] and [GETTING HERE], while the paragraph template 302Bincludes two sentence types, 310A and 310D, [WHERE] AND [FALLBACK].

Each of the paragraph templates 302A, 302B, sentence templates304A-304E, and attributes 312 may be hierarchically ranked. Theparagraph templates 302A, 302B are ranked within their respectivesection. For example, the paragraph templates 302A and 302B are rankedwith respect to one another. Sentence templates 304A-304E are rankedwith respect to one another within their respective sentence types310A-310D. Attributes 312A are ranked with respect to one another withintheir respective variables 306A. Within a given paragraph, sentencetype, or variable, the content generation service 102 may be configuredto consider the respective paragraph templates, sentence templates, orattributes in order of their ranking. Furthermore, while sentence types310A-310C within paragraph template 302A and sentence types 310D-310Ewithin paragraph template 302B are not formally ranked with respect toone another within their respective paragraph templates, sentence typeswhich are required may be selected for consideration prior tonon-required sentence types, as discussed in greater detail below.

In certain embodiments, the ranking of the paragraph templates, sentencetemplates, and attributes may be determined by a ranking indicator(e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc.). For example, a ranking indicator may beassociated with each of the respective paragraph templates, sentencetemplates, and attributes. The ranking indicator associated with each ofrespective paragraph templates, sentence templates, and attributes maybe stored within the data store 110. In other embodiments, the rankingof selective ones of the paragraph templates, sentence templates, andattributes may be the same, indicating no preference between respectiveparagraph templates, sentence templates, and attributes.

Obtained data, including structured information and metadatacorresponding to the paragraph templates 302A, 302B are illustratedbelow in Table 1. As illustrated in Table 1, the structured informationincludes columns for data, attributes, and attribute values. In certainembodiments, the structured information is designed to be searched inorder to identify or match with the attributes 312A of the variables306A of the sentence templates 304A-304E, as discussed below. In oneexample, with respect to Table 1, the sentence template 304A may possessa variable “Location.” As illustrated in the variables 306A, thevariable “Location” possesses an attribute “City.” The variables 306Amay further indicate that the “City” attribute is associated with anattribute value. As the attribute “City” is found in the data of thestructured information, Table 1, the “Location” attribute may beidentified as matching for the property (that is. the property satisfiesthe variable). Furthermore, since the “Location” attribute is indicatedas being associated with an attribute value in variables 306A, theattribute value of “ABC, USA,” within the structured information may beprovided to replace the “Location” variable within the sentence template304A.

TABLE 1 Structured Information and Metadata For Location SectionAttribute Data Attribute Value LodgingName Y XYZ Hotel City Y ABC, USADistance N AttractionName N StreetAddress Y 12345 XYZ Street Location NIdentifier Metadata Attribute Section Location Language EnglishParagraph General

The template component 206 may retrieve the structured information andmetadata from a storage device which is local to the content generationservice 102 and/or from a storage device which is accessible to thecontent generation service 102 via the network, such as the data store110. The template component 206 may further employ the structuredinformation and metadata for use in generating content for an electronicdocument based upon the template 104. An example of a generatedelectronic document 350 is illustrated in FIG. 3D.

The template component 206 may employ the metadata within the obtaineddata to facilitate content generation. The template component 206 mayidentify the section, language and paragraph for which contentgeneration is to be performed. The template component 206 may furtheridentify and retrieve the highest ranked paragraph template which isappropriate for the identified section, language, and paragraph of theproperty for content generation. In this manner, the metadata enableseasy identification and retrieval of the desired paragraph template.

The template component 206 may begin generating content for a paragraphidentified in the metadata of Table 1. The template component 206 mayidentify the highest ranked paragraph template for the paragraph,language, and section identified within the metadata. For example, asillustrated in FIG. 3A, a location section in English for a generalparagraph is identified. The template component 206 initially retrievesand considers the identified highest ranked paragraph template for theparagraph under consideration. As discussed above, in this example, itis assumed that the highest ranked paragraph template is the paragraphtemplate which is listed first for the paragraph under consideration,paragraph template 302A.

The template component 206 further attempts to generate content forsentence types within paragraph template 302A, with required sentencetypes evaluated prior to non-required sentence types in certainembodiments. As illustrated in FIG. 3A, the paragraph template 302Aincludes sentence types 310A-310C, [WHERE], [NEAR ATTRACTION], AND[GETTING HERE]. The first sentence type 310A includes a single sentencetemplate which reads, “[LODGING] is located in the [LOCATION],” where[LODGING] and [LOCATION] are variables. The second sentence type 310Bstates, “It is within about [DISTANCE] of [ATTRACTION],” where[DISTANCE] and [ATTRACTION] are variables. The third sentence type 310Cincludes two sentence templates, “The Hotel is located at [ADDRESS], atthe corner of [IDENTIFIER]” and “The Hotel is located at [ADDRESS],”where [ADDRESS] and [IDENTIFIER] are variables. From variables 306A ofFIG. 3A, it may be observed that the variable “Address” corresponds toattribute “StreetAddress” while the variable “Identifier” corresponds tothe attribute “Location Identifier.” Furthermore, the variables 306Aindicate that variables ‘Address” and “Identifier” are replaced byrespective attribute values should they be satisfied by the structuredinformation of Table 1.

It may be assumed in the present example that none of the sentence types310A-310C within paragraph template 302A are required sentencetemplates. Thus, the sentence types 310A-310C are considered in anarbitrary order. Furthermore, the sentence templates 304A-304D may beranked in the order in which they appear in their respective sentencetypes 310A-310C. Therefore, the first sentence template to be consideredis sentence template 304A.

As discussed above, the variables within a selected sentence templatemay be considered in any order. For example, the template component 206may begin by determining whether a match to the attributes of thevariable “Lodging.” is present within the structured information ofTable 1. As illustrated in the variables 306A, the attribute associatedwith the “Lodging” variable is “LodgingName.” As further illustrated inTable 1, the attribute “LodgingName” is present within the structuredinformation for the lodging property. For example, the structuredinformation includes a record for the attribute “LodgingName” and anindication “Y” within an Attribute column associated with “LodgingName”which specifies that the selected property possesses the “LodgingName”attribute. As a result, the template component 206 may determine thelodging property matches the “Lodging” variable of the sentence template304A. Upon identifying a match between the “Lodging” variable and thestructured information of Table 1, the template component 206 mayreplace the variable “LodgingName” with the corresponding attributevalue “XYZ Hotel” in order to generate content. Alternatively, thetemplate component 206 may wait until all variables within the sentencetemplate 304A are satisfied before replacing the satisfied variableswith their respective content.

The template component 206 may continue content generation with the nextvariable within the sentence template, “Location.” As illustrated invariables 306A, the “City” attribute corresponds to the “location”variable. The “Location” variable is further indicated as being replacedby an attribute value when a match is identified. Thus, upon identifyinga match for the “City” attribute within the structured information ofTable 1, the attribute value “ABC, USA” may replace the “location”variable. In this manner, sentence type 310A may be completed.

The template component 206 continues the content generation process byconsidering another next sentence type of paragraph template 302A, forexample, sentence type 310B, [NEAR ATTRACTION]. Sentence type 310Bincludes a single sentence template 304B which states, “It is withinabout [DISTANCE] of [ATTRACTION],” where [DISTANCE] and [ATTRACTION] arevariables. The template component 206 determines whether the attributesof the variables “Distance” and “Attraction” are matched by thestructured information of Table 1. As illustrated in the variables 306A,the variable “Distance” is associated with the attribute “Distance,”while the variable “Attraction” is associated with the attribute“AttractionName.” As further illustrated in Table 1, attributescorresponding to the attribute “Distance” and “AttractionName” are notpresent within the structured information.

Each variable within a sentence template is required to be found to besatisfied in order for the sentence template to be satisfied. Therefore,regardless of which variable of the sentence template 304B is consideredfirst, “Distance” or “Attraction,” failing to determine a match foreither the attributes of the “Distance” or “Attraction” variablesresults in failure of the sentence template 304B. Therefore, content isnot generated for the sentence template 304B and sentence template 304Bis omitted from the generated document 350.

The template component 206 may subsequently consider the remainingsentence type 310C of the paragraph template 302A. Sentence type 304Cincludes two sentence templates 304C and 304D, which state, “The hotelis located at [ADDRESS], near the corner of [IDENTIFIER]” and “The hotelis located at [ADDRESS],” where [ADDRESS] and [IDENTIFIER] arevariables. As illustrated in variables 306A, the “Address” variable isassociated with the “StreetAddress” attribute, while the “Identifier”attribute is associated with the “LocationIdentifier” attribute. Asfurther illustrated in the variables 306A, each of these attributes isreplaced by an attribute value, should a match with the structuredinformation be identified.

The structured information of Table 1 includes an attributecorresponding to the “StreetAddress” attribute but does not include anattribute corresponding to the “LocationIdentifier” attribute. Becauseat least one attribute 312 of one variable of the sentence template 304Cis not matched by the structured information of Table 1, the templatecomponent 206, may determine that the sentence template 304C is notsatisfied by the property and may move to consider the next highestranked sentence template within the sentence type 310C, sentencetemplate 304D.

Sentence template 304D reads “The hotel is located at [ADDRESS].” Asdiscussed above, the structured information of Table 1 matches the“StreetAddress” attribute of the “Address” variable and has an attributevalue of 12345 XYZ street. As the “address” variable is the onlyvariable within sentence template 304D, the sentence template 304D issatisfied by the property. Therefore, the template component 206 mayreplace the variable “Address” with the attribute value “12345 XYZ” inthe generated document 350.

Upon completion of the sentence type 310C, the template component 206searches for additional sentence types within the paragraph template302A to consider. Upon determining that there are no additional sentencetypes within the paragraph template 302A to consider, the templatecomponent 206 determines that the paragraph 302A has been satisfied, asat least one sentence type within the paragraph template 302A has beensatisfied. Because the highest ranked paragraph template 302A of thelocation section is satisfied, the next highest ranked paragraphtemplate of the location section, paragraph template 302B, is notconsidered for content generation. The template component 206 thenconsiders the location section complete and moves to consider paragraphtemplates remaining within other sections of the document for whichcontent is being generated.

For example, the template component 206 may consider a dining sectionfollowing completion of the location section, FIG. 3B. To performcontent generation, the template component 206 may determine thatstructured information corresponding to the dining section is containedwithin Table 2 from the section field of the metadata of Table 2. Table2 may have previously been retrieved concurrently with the structuredinformation of Table 1 for the property, enabling the template component206 to identify that content generation is to be performed for thedining section. As discussed above, the template component 206 may firstconsider the highest ranked paragraph template in the dining section.For this example, it may be assumed that paragraph template 302C is thehighest ranked paragraph template, followed by paragraph template 302D.

TABLE 2 Structured Information and Metadata For Dining Section AttributeData Attribute Value Restaurant Y Yum! Name CuisineType N Ambiance NHamburger Y n/a Chinese N Pizza Y n/a Metadata Attribute Section DiningLanguage English Paragraph General

Paragraph template 302C includes two sentence types, 310E and 310F,[ONSITE] and [ONSITE DETAIL]. As further illustrated in FIG. 3B, thesentence types 310E and 310F each include a single sentence template,304F and 304G which state, “The hotel features [RESTAURANT]” and“[RESTAURANT] serves [CUISINE] in a [ATMOSPHERE],” where “Restaurant,”“Cuisine,” and “Atmosphere” are variables. It may be further observedfrom the variables 306B that the “Restaurant” variable is associatedwith an attribute “RestaurantName,” the “Cuisine” variable is associatedwith an attribute “CuisineType,” and the “Atmosphere” variable isassociated with an attribute “Ambiance.” Each of these variables isfurther indicated in the variables 306B as being replaced by anattribute value upon identification of a match with the structuredinformation of the property. In this example, it may be assumed thatsentence type 310F is a required sentence type. As the sentence type310F is a required sentence type, the template component 206 mayevaluate it prior to other sentence types (e.g., sentence type 310E)within the paragraph template 302C.

It may be observed from Table 2 and variables 306B that neither of theattributes of “CusineType” or “Atmosphere” contained within sentencetemplate 304G of sentence type 310F match the attributes of thestructured information. As a result, sentence template 304G is not foundto be satisfied. The absence of at least one satisfied sentence templatewithin the required sentence type 310F results in omission of theparagraph template 302C from the generated document 350, despite anyother sentence types within the paragraph template 302C which may besatisfied, such as sentence type 310E.

As the paragraph template 302C is eliminated from consideration forcontent generation, the template component 206 may move to considerparagraph template 302D for content generation. As paragraph template302D is composed of a single sentence type, sentence type 310G, whichincludes a single sentence template 304H, by default, sentence template304H is considered first.

The sentence template 304H states, “[FOOD] may be obtained from localrestaurants,” where “Food” is a variable. From variables 306B, it may beobserved that variable “Food” is associated with attributes“Hamburgers,” “Chinese,” and “Pizza.” It may be assumed that theattributes are ranked from highest to lowest in the order they arelisted in the variables 306B. As the variable “Food” appears once withinthe sentence template 304H, the sentence template 304H may be satisfiedif at least one of “Hamburgers,” “Chinese,” and “Pizza” match theattributes of the property. When determining whether a match between thevariable “Food” and the attributes of the structured information ofTable 2 is present, the attributes of “Food” may be considered in rankedorder. Thus, the template component 206 may first determine whether amatch to the “Hamburgers” attribute is present. If not, then thetemplate component 206 may determine whether a match to the “Chinese”attribute is present. If not, then the template component 206 maydetermine whether a match to the “Pizza” attribute is present. It may befurther observed that the attributes “Hamburgers” and “Pizza” of thevariable “Food” are matched in the structured data of Table 2. As theattribute “Hamburgers” is highest ranked and considered before the“Pizza” attribute, “Hamburgers” may be selected to replace the “Food”variable within the sentence template 304H. Furthermore, as the “Food”variable is the only variable which requires content generation withinthe paragraph template 302D, matching the “Food” variable completescontent generation for the dining paragraph template 302D. Additionally,as the paragraph template 302D is the only remaining paragraph templatewithin the dining section, completing the paragraph template 302D alsocompletes the dining section.

Upon completing content generation for the dining section, the templatecomponent 206 moves to consider any remaining sections for the document350. Assume that an amenities section remains for consideration. In oneaspect, the template component 206 may obtain the structured informationof Table 3 for the property. The template component 206 may furtherdetermine the paragraph templates appropriate to the amenities sectionfrom the metadata of Table 3.

TABLE 3 Structured Information and Metadata For Amenities SectionAttribute Data Attribute Value Pool Y n/a Spa Y Sauna N Time Y 6 AM to10 PM Metadata Attribute Section Amenities Language English ParagraphGeneral

The template component 206 may first determine the highest rankedparagraph template within the amenities section, followed by selecting asentence type, or a required sentence type, and then considering thehighest ranked sentence template within the selected sentence type. Asparagraph template 302E is the only paragraph template, by default,paragraph template 302E is selected as the highest ranked. The paragraphtemplate 302E includes two sentence types 310H and 310I, [WHAT] and[AVAILABILITY]. The sentence types 310H and 310I state, “The Hotel alsooffers an aquatic complex including a [WATER] and [WATER] for theenjoyment of its guests” and “The aquatic complex is open between thehours of [HOURS],” where “Water” and “Hours” are variables. Asillustrated in the variables 306C of FIG. 3C, the “Water” variablecorresponds to the attributes “Pool,” “Spa,’ and “Sauna,” while thevariable “Hours” corresponds to the attribute “Time.” The attributes ofthe “Water” variable may be further ranked from highest to lowest in theorder in which they appear in the variables 306C, with the “Pool”attribute as the highest ranked attribute and the “Sauna” attribute asthe lowest ranked attribute. The variables 306C further indicate thatthe name of the attributes of the “Water” variable are used to replacethe “Water” variable when a match is identified with the structuredinformation of Table 3, while an attribute value corresponding to theattribute “Time” is used to replace the “Hours” variable when a match isidentified with the structured information of Table 3.

Assuming that the sentence type 310H is required, the template component206 may begin content generation for paragraph template 302D withsentence type 310H. As sentence type 310H contains only one sentencetemplate, sentence template 310I, this sentence template is consideredfirst by default. It may be noted that the “Water” variable appearstwice within sentence template 310I, indicating that two attributes ofthe “Water” variable must match the attributes of the structuredinformation of Table 3 for sentence template 310I to be satisfied. Asdiscussed above, the template component 206 may consider the attributesin ranked order. For example, the template component 206 may firstdetermine that the “Pool” attribute of the “Water” variable is matchedby the attributes of the structured information of Table 3. As a result,the attribute “Pool” may replace the first instance of the “Water”variable in sentence template 304I. The template component 206 may nextdetermine that the “Spa” attribute of the “Water” variable is matched bythe attributes of the structured information of Table 3. As a result,the attribute “Spa” may replace the second instance of the “Water”variable in sentence template 304I. Upon completing content generationfor sentence template 304I, the sentence type 310H is also completed.

The template component 206 may further generate content for theremaining sentence type 310I within the paragraph template 302E, whichis composed of sentence template 304J. Based upon the structuredinformation of Table 3 and the variables 306C, the template component206 may identify a match between the structured information and the“Time” attribute of the “Hours” variable. The attribute of “6 AM to 10PM” within the structured information may be added to the sentencetemplate 304J in replacement of the “Hours” variable. As the paragraphtemplate 302E is the only paragraph template within the amenitiessection, completing the paragraph template 302E also completes theamenities section and the overall document 350. The completed document350 is illustrated in FIG. 3D.

The content generation service 102 may further include a user interfacecomponent 210. The user interface component 210 may be employed toreceive user requests for performing content generation. The userinterface component 210 may further generate user interfaces whichenable submission of such user requests. The user interface component210 may further generate user interfaces which enable submission of oneor more of structured information, metadata, and templates 104 for usein content generation.

FIG. 4A is a block diagram of the operating environment of FIG. 1,illustrating the content generation service 102 initiating a contentgeneration process for a lodging property. In certain embodiments, therequest may be automatically initiated by the scheduling component 202according to a predetermined schedule which is stored locally to thecontent generation service 102 or remotely in a network-accessiblestorage device (e.g., data store 110). The predetermined scheduleinitiated by the scheduling component 202 may include identification ofthe lodging property.

Upon identification of the lodging property by the scheduling component202, the content generation service 102 may obtain data (e.g.,structured information and metadata) regarding the lodging property. Thestructured information and metadata may be stored locally to the contentgeneration service 102 or may be requested from a network-accessiblestorage device remote such as the data store 110. The obtained data mayfurther include information regarding points of interest related to theidentified lodging property.

The point of interest component 204 may employ at least a portion of thereceived point of interest information in order to identify closestpoints of interest to the identified lodging property. In one aspect,the point of interest component 204 may obtain location informationregarding the identified lodging property, such as latitude andlongitude, GPS coordinates, and the like. In combination with the pointof interest information, the closest points of interest to theidentified property may be determined. For example, algorithm-basedcriteria may be used for determining the closest points of interest.

The determined closest points of interest may be transmitted to thetemplate component 206. The template component 206 may further employthe identified lodging property and metadata to determine one or moreappropriate templates 104 (e.g., templates for a selected documentsection and written in a selected language) for which content generationis to be performed in order to provide a document. The templates 104 maybe stored locally to the content generation service 102 or may berequested from a network-accessible storage device remote such as thedata store 110. With the obtained template, structured information, andmetadata, the template component 206 may generate content as discussedabove with respect to FIG. 3. Content generated in this manner may besubsequently stored in the data store 110 for later retrieval and use.

In an alternative embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 4B, the contentgeneration service 102 may receive a request to generate content from aclient computing device 400. The client computing device 400 may includeany communication device capable of communicating with the contentgeneration service 102, such as a personal computer (PC), a kiosk, athin client, a home computer, and a dedicated or embedded machine.Further examples may include without limitation laptop or tabletcomputers, personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs),hybrid PDAs/mobile phones, mobile phones, electronic book readers,set-top boxes, and the like.

FIG. 4B is a block diagram of the operating environment of FIG. 1,illustrating the submission of a request to the content generationservice 102 from the client computing device 400 to generate content fora lodging property. The content generation request may include, but isnot limited to, identification of the lodging property. The contentgeneration request may be further received by the user interfacecomponent 210 and passed to the point of interest component 204. Theblock diagram of FIG. 4B is otherwise similar to FIG. 4A as describedabove.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an operating environment 500 in which thecontent generation service 102 is in communication with one or morenetwork-based services 502. In one embodiment, the network-based service502 may include one or more network-based retail services implementedvia a website that offer one or more items for sale. In anotherembodiment, the network-based services 502 may include one or morenetwork-based information services implemented via a website that offerinformation for review and/or purchase. Content generated by the contentgeneration service 102 may be stored by the network-based service 502 ina data store 504. The content may be further displayed in conjunctionwith the item of interest when offered for review and/or sale by thenetwork-based service 502.

For example, a user may employ a computing device 506 to communicatewith the network-based service 502 to request information regarding alodging property, including content generated by the content generationservice 102. The user may further employ the network-based service 502to purchase use of the lodging property. As discussed above, it may beunderstood that the content generation service 102 and network-basedservice 502 need not be separate components but instead may beincorporated within a single service.

The computing device 506 may include any communication device capable ofcommunicating with the content generation service 102, such as apersonal computer (PC), a kiosk, a thin client, a home computer, and adedicated or embedded machine. Further examples may include, withoutlimitation, laptop or tablet computers, personal computers, personaldigital assistants (PDAs), hybrid PDAs/mobile phones, mobile phones,electronic book readers, set-top boxes, and the like.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the operating environment of FIG. 5,illustrating the submission of a request to the content generationservice 102 from the computing device 506 for content regarding alodging property. The content generation request may be received by thecontent generation service 102 from the computing device 506 via thenetwork-based service 502 or may be received directly from the computingdevice 506. Upon receipt of the request for content regarding thelodging property, the content generation service 102 may retrieve therequested content, which had been previously generated by the contentgeneration service 102. Retrieval may take place from storage local tothe content generation service 102 or remotely from the contentgeneration service 102, such as the data store 110. Upon retrieval, therequested content may be returned to the computing device 506.

In alternative embodiments, the content generation service 102 may alsogenerate requested content upon receipt of the request, in lieu ofretrieving the content from storage. The ability to generate requestedcontent upon receipt of a request may be advantageous undercircumstances where the requested content is not available withinstorage and/or the requested content retrieved from storage is found tobe out of date. For example, retrieved content may be determined to beout of date if the time elapsed since its generation exceeds a selectedtime period (e.g., one month, three months, six months, one year, etc.).

FIG. 7A is a flow diagram of an illustrative routine 700 implemented bythe content generation service 102 to generate content for an item ofinterest, such as a lodging property. The routine 700 begins in block702 in which the content generation service 102 obtains a request togenerate content, which includes the lodging property of interest. Therequest may be generated internally by the content generation service102, such as by the scheduling component 202 or from a user employing aclient computing device 400.

Upon receipt of the request to generate content, property information isobtained in block 704. The property information may include structuredinformation and metadata regarding the property of interest, includingpoints of interest and location information. The content generationservice 102 may employ the points of interest and location informationto generate the closest points of interest to the lodging property ofinterest in block 706. The content generation service 102 may furtheremploy the section and language information contained within themetadata to identify and retrieve the correct template for contentgeneration for the lodging property in block 710. For example, theobtained template may identify the paragraph templates for the section,paragraph, and language identified in the metadata.

Once paragraph templates for the paragraph of the property of interestare identified, the content generation service 102 may further identifythe hierarchy of the paragraph templates, sentence templates, andattributes (e.g., from the rankings within the data store). In block 712the highest ranked paragraph template is identified and obtained.Subsequently, in block 714, a determination is made whether theparagraph template contains a required sentence type. If so, the routine700 moves to block 742, as discussed below. If not, a sentence type isselected in block 716. In certain embodiments, any sentence type may beselected, as the sentence types are not ranked and all sentence types,absent a required sentence type, are considered. Upon selection of asentence type, the highest ranked sentence template within the selectedsentence type is selected in block 718. In alternative embodiments, onlythe highest ranked sentence template may be identified and retrieved,rather than all sentence templates of the paragraph template underconsideration. In this manner, the number of sentence templatesretrieved may be reduced.

In block 720, a variable within the selected sentence template isselected for content generation. In decision block 722, the contentgeneration service 102 determines whether a match for one or more of theattributes of the selected variable is present in the structuredinformation for the item of interest. If a match is identified (e.g.,the variable is satisfied or “true”), the routine 700 moves to decisionblock 724 where a determination is made whether additional variables arepresent within the presently considered sentence template. If no matchis identified (e.g., the variable is not satisfied or “true”), theroutine 700 moves to decision block 730, where a determination is madewhether another sentence template is present within the sentence type.

If a determination is made that there are no additional variablespresent within the sentence template, after all variables in thesentence template have been identified to be true, (e.g., the sentencetemplate is also true), the routine 700 moves to block 726. In block726, the attribute or attribute values associated with the variable isadded to the sentence template and the routine 700 moves to decisionblock 732. It may be understood, in certain embodiments, that theattribute or attribute values associated with a variable identified tobe satisfied or “true” may also be added to the sentence templateimmediately upon being identified to be satisfied or “true”.

In decision block 732, a determination is made whether another sentencetype requiring content generation is present within the paragraphtemplate under consideration. If another sentence type requiring contentgeneration is present within the paragraph template, the routine 700returns to block 716. If, however, another sentence type needing contentgeneration is not present within the paragraph template, the routine 700moves to decision block 734. In decision block 734, a determination ismade whether the paragraph template under consideration has beensatisfied (e.g., content has been generated for the paragraph template)or if the next highest ranked paragraph template of the paragraph shouldbe considered for content generation. If a selected paragraph templateof the paragraph under consideration is not satisfied, another paragraphtemplate may be considered in order to generate content for theparagraph. Thus, the routine 700 returns to block 712, where the highestranked paragraph template remaining for the paragraph underconsideration is selected and the routine 700 continues as describedabove with block 714.

If, however, it is determined in block 734 that content has beengenerated for the paragraph under consideration, and additional contentgeneration is not needed for the paragraph, the routine 700 moves todecision block 736. In decision block 736, a determination is madewhether another section requiring content generation is present Ifanother section requiring content generation is present, the routine 700returns to block 710, where paragraph templates for the section areidentified and the routine 700 continues as described above with block712.

As discussed above, if a required sentence type is determined indecision block 714, the routine 700 moves to block 742 of FIG. 7B. Inblock 742, the highest ranked sentence template within the selectedsentence type is selected and the routine 700 moves to block 744. Inblock 744, a variable within the selected sentence template is selectedfor content generation. In decision block 746, a determination is madewhether a match is present for one or more of the attributes of theselected variable within the structured information for the item ofinterest. If a match is identified (e.g., the variable is satisfied or“true”), the routine 700 moves to decision block 752 where adetermination is made whether the sentence template under considerationis complete. If the sentence template is complete, the routine 700subsequently moves to block 726, where matching attribute or attributevalues are added to the template for content generation. If the sentencetemplate is not complete, the routine subsequently moves to block 744where other variables within the sentence template are considered.

If, however, the variable is not found to be satisfied, the routine 700moves to block 748. In decision block 748, a determination is madewhether additional sentence templates are present within the requiredsentence type. If so, the routine 700 moves to block 742, where thehighest ranked sentence template remaining in the sentence type isconsidered. If not, the routine 700 moves to block 750, where theparagraph under consideration is determined to fail. Paragraph failurein block 750 reflects the determination that content has not beengenerated for any sentence template within the required sentence typeand that the sentence type is required. As a result, the entireparagraph within which the sentence type resides is found to beunsatisfied or “fails” and is omitted from the generated content.

All of the processes described herein may be embodied in, and fullyautomated via, software code modules executed by one or more generalpurpose computers or processors. The code modules may be stored in anytype of computer-readable medium or other computer storage device. Someor all the methods may alternatively be embodied in specialized computerhardware. In addition, the components referred to herein may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware or a combination thereof.

Conditional language such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might” or“may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, are otherwise understoodwithin the context as used in general to convey that certain embodimentsinclude, while other embodiments do not include, certain features,elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generallyintended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are in any wayrequired for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodimentsnecessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input orprompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps are included orare to be performed in any particular embodiment.

Any process descriptions, elements or blocks in the flow diagramsdescribed herein and/or depicted in the attached figures should beunderstood as potentially representing modules, segments, or portions ofcode which include one or more executable instructions for implementingspecific logical functions or elements in the process. Alternateimplementations are included within the scope of the embodimentsdescribed herein in which elements or functions may be deleted, executedout of order from that shown, or discussed, including substantiallyconcurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionalityinvolved as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

It should be emphasized that many variations and modifications may bemade to the above-described embodiments, the elements of which are to beunderstood as being among other acceptable examples. All suchmodifications and variations are intended to be included herein withinthe scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims.

1. A computer-implemented method of electronically generating a documentdescribing a property in different languages, the method comprising:under control of one or more configured computer systems; obtaining oneor more paragraph templates for a paragraph describing the property, theparagraph templates comprising one or sentence types including one ormore sentence templates, wherein each sentence template comprises one ormore variables having associated attributes, and wherein each of theparagraph templates, sentence templates, and attributes are respectivelyorganized hierarchically; obtaining first data, wherein the first datacomprises one or more attributes corresponding to at least one of thevariable attributes of the sentence templates; obtaining second data,the second data specifying the language of the template; identifying thehighest ranked paragraph template for the paragraph describing theproperty; selecting a sentence type of the identified paragraphtemplate; identifying the highest ranked sentence template of theselected sentence type; and if each of the attributes of the variablesof the identified sentence template are identified within the attributesof the first data; generating a document including the highest rankedsentence template by adding the identified attributes of the first datato the identified highest ranked sentence template in place of thevariables of the identified highest ranked sentence template.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein obtaining one or moreparagraph templates for a paragraph describing the property comprises:identifying a language specified within the obtained second data; andretrieving a paragraph template for the property which is written in theidentified language.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the obtained first data comprises one or more of a propertyname, property amenities, a property rating, a property location, andpoints of interest associated with the property.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the generated documentdoes not include unsatisfied sentence templates, wherein an unsatisfiedsentence template has at least one variable attribute that has not beenidentified within the attributes of the first data.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein one or more selectedsentence types are designated as being required.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the generated documentdoes not include paragraph templates comprising unsatisfied requiredsentence types, wherein each sentence template of an unsatisfiedrequired sentence template has at least one variable attribute that hasnot been identified within the attributes of the first data.
 7. A systemfor automatically generating content for an electronic document, thesystem comprising: a data store that stores one or more templates forthe electronic documents, wherein the templates comprise one or moreparagraph templates for a document paragraph, the paragraph templatescomprising one or more sentence types comprising one or more sentencetemplates, and the sentence templates comprising one or more variableshaving associated attributes, and wherein each of the paragraphtemplates, sentence templates, and attributes are respectivelyhierarchically organized; and a content generation service incommunication with the data store, the content generation serviceoperative to: obtain data regarding an item of interest to be describedin the electronic document, the data comprising attributes correspondingto one or more of the variable attributes; select the paragraph templatewhich is to be employed for content generation from the data store;identify the highest ranking sentence template of a selected sentencetype whose variable attributes match the attributes of the obtaineddata; and generate the electronic document including the identifiedsentence template, wherein attributes of the obtained data that matchthe attributes of the variables of the identified sentence template areadded to the identified sentence template in place of the variables ofthe identified sentence template.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein theitem of interest comprises at least one of flights, lodging properties,ground transportation, and cruises.
 9. The system of claim 7, whereindata regarding the item of interest comprises one or more of a propertyname, property amenities, a property rating, a property location, andpoints of interest associated with the property.
 10. The system of claim7, wherein the hierarchy of the paragraph templates, sentence templates,and variable attributes is determined by an indicated rank within thedata store.
 11. The system of claim 7, wherein the attributes of theobtained data comprise at least one of the attributes themselves andcorresponding attribute values.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein thevariables of the identified sentence template include an indicatorspecifying whether the sentence template variables are replaced by theattribute or attribute value of the obtained data.
 13. The system ofclaim 7, wherein selecting the paragraph template comprises: obtainingadditional data identifying the template language and document section;and retrieving a paragraph template for the property which is written inthe identified language and pertains to the identified section.
 14. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein selecting the paragraph template comprisesselecting the highest ranked paragraph template for the documentparagraph.
 15. The system of claim 7, wherein the generated documentdoes not include unsatisfied sentence templates, wherein an unsatisfiedsentence template has at least one variable attribute that has not beenidentified within the attributes of the first data.
 16. The system ofclaim 7, wherein one or more selected sentence types are designated asbeing required.
 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the generateddocument does not include paragraph templates comprising unsatisfiedrequired sentence types, wherein each sentence template of anunsatisfied required sentence template has at least one variableattribute that has not been identified within the attributes of thefirst data.
 18. A computer-implemented method of electronicallygenerating content for a document describing an item of interest, themethod comprising: under control of one or more configured computersystems; receiving a request to generate content for the item ofinterest; obtaining data regarding the item of interest, the dataincluding one or more attributes describing the item of interest for usein content generation and one or more languages for content generation;identifying a template based upon the language for content generationand the item of interest, wherein the template comprises one or moresentence types including one or more sentence templates, wherein thesentence templates include one or more variables having associatedattributes, and wherein the sentence templates and attributes are,respectively, hierarchically organized; identifying the highest rankedsentence template of a selected sentence type whose variable attributesmatch the attributes of the obtained data; and generating a document,wherein document includes the identified highest ranked sentencetemplate and wherein the variables of the identified highest rankedsentence template are replaced by the matching attributes of theobtained data.
 19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, whereinthe item of interest comprises at least one of flights, lodgingproperties, ground transportation, and cruises.
 20. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein data regarding the itemof interest comprises one or more of a property name, propertyamenities, a property rating, a property location, and points ofinterest associated with the property.
 21. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 18, wherein the attributes of the obtained data compriseat least one of the attributes themselves and corresponding attributevalues.
 22. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein thevariables of the identified sentence template include an indicatorspecifying whether the sentence template variables are replaced by theattribute or attribute value of the obtained data.
 23. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein identifying the highestranked sentence template comprises: identifying a highest rankedparagraph template for a paragraph describing the item of interest,wherein the paragraph templates are hierarchically ranked; and choosingthe selected sentence type from the identified highest ranked paragraphtemplate.
 24. The computer-implemented method of claim 23, wherein thehierarchy of the paragraph templates, sentence templates, and variableattributes is determined from an indicated rank within a data store thatmaintains the respective paragraph templates, sentence templates, andvariable attributes.
 25. The computer-implemented method of claim 18,wherein the generated document does not include unsatisfied sentencetemplates, wherein an unsatisfied sentence template has at least onevariable attribute that has not been identified within the attributes ofthe first data.
 26. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, whereinone or more selected sentence types are designated as being required.27. The computer-implemented method of claim 26, wherein the generateddocument does not include paragraph templates comprising unsatisfiedrequired sentence types, wherein each sentence template of anunsatisfied required sentence template has at least one variableattribute that has not been identified within the attributes of thefirst data.
 28. A computer-readable medium having instructions encodedthereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by a computingapparatus, cause the computing apparatus to: control a templatecomponent operative to: select a paragraph template for a paragraphdescribing an item of interest, wherein the paragraph template comprisesone or more sentence types comprising one or more sentence templates,and wherein the sentence templates comprise one or more variables havingassociated attributes, and wherein each of the paragraph templates,sentence templates, and attributes are respectively hierarchicallyorganized; identify the highest ranking sentence template of a selectedsentence type whose variable attributes match the attributes of theobtained data; obtain data regarding the item of interest, the datacomprising attributes corresponding to one or more attributes of thevariables; and generate an electronic document including the identifiedsentence template, wherein attributes of the obtained data that matchthe attributes of the variables of the identified sentence template areadded to the identified sentence template in place of the variables ofthe identified sentence template.
 29. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 28, wherein the item of interest comprises at least one offlights, lodging properties, ground transportation, and cruises.
 30. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 28, wherein data regarding the item ofinterest comprises one or more of a property name, property amenities, aproperty rating, a property location, and points of interest associatedwith the property.
 31. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, whereinthe hierarchy of the paragraph templates, sentence templates, andvariable attributes is determined by an indicated rank within a datastore that maintains the respective paragraph templates, sentencetemplate, and variable attributes.
 32. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 28, wherein the attributes of the obtained data comprise at leastone of the attributes themselves and corresponding attribute values. 33.The computer-readable medium of claim 32, wherein the variables of theidentified sentence template include an indicator specifying whether thesentence template variables are replaced by an attribute or attributevalue of the obtained data.
 34. The computer-readable medium of claim28, wherein selecting the paragraph template comprises: obtainingadditional data identifying the template language and document section;and retrieving a paragraph template for the property which is written inthe identified language and pertains to the identified section.
 35. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 28, wherein selecting the paragraphtemplate comprises selecting the highest ranked paragraph template ofthe paragraph.
 36. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, wherein thegenerated document does not include unsatisfied sentence templates,wherein an unsatisfied sentence template has at least one variableattribute that has not been identified within the attributes of thefirst data.
 37. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, wherein one ormore selected sentence types are designated as being required.
 38. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 37, wherein the generated documentdoes not include paragraph templates comprising unsatisfied requiredsentence types, wherein each sentence template of an unsatisfiedrequired sentence template has at least one variable attribute that hasnot been identified within the attributes of the first data.